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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
|released=July 27, 2010 |genre= Real Time Strategy |engine=''StarCraft II'' EngineKarune.StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28. |modes= Singleplayer, Multiplayer |ratings= |requirements=Internet connection (to install)Gunnar Petzall. 2009-08-17. StarCraft II Developers Talk Single Player. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-08-28. ---- Full requirements: *PC ** Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7 ** 2.6 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor ** 1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7 ** 128 MB PCIe NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card or better ** 1024x768 minimum display resolution ** 12 GB free hard space ** Broadband connection *Mac® OS X 10.5.8 or newer **Intel® Processor **NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X1600 or better **12 GB available HD space **2 GB Ram **DVD-ROM drive **Broadband Internet connection **1024X720 minimum display resolution *PC Recommended System Requirements: **Windows Vista/Windows 7 **Dual Core 2.4GHz Processor **2 GB RAM **512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better *MAC Recommended System Requirements: **Intel® Core 2 Duo processor **4 GB system RAM **NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT or ATI Radeon® HD 4670 or betterJohn Callahan. 2010-07-15. Final StarCraft II retail version system requirements revealed. Big Download News. Accessed 2010-07-16. |platforms=Macintosh OSXChris Sigaty. 2009-12-04. Interview with Chris Sigaty. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-12-23. Windows XP, Windows Vista |input= Mouse, keyboard }} Wings of Liberty is the name of the StarCraft II terran campaign and episode. It was released on July 27, 2010.Press Releases. 2010-05-03. STARCRAFT® II: WINGS OF LIBERTY™ IN STORES STARTING JULY 27, 2010. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-05-03. It was the first StarCraft II product and was released separately from the two expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void,Mike Farley. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! Kotaku.com Accessed 2008-10-10.Eduardo Vasconcellos. 2008-10-10. Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games. IGN. Accessed 2008-10-10. occurring before them chronologically.StarCraft Legacy staff. 2008-04-04. StarCraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed on 2009-05-12 Wings of Liberty has 29 missions (though a maximum of 26 are playable in a single playthrough). It has 13 minutes of pre-rendered cinematics and 32 minutes of in-engine on-the-fly cinematics.Blizzard Entertainment staff. The Ultimate Wings of Liberty Experience. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-04-11. It has been collected into a battlechest alongside Heart of the Swarm.2014-12-21, BLIZZARD RELEASES STARCRAFT II BATTLECHEST. Blizzpro, accessed on 2014-12-25 As of November 2017, Wings of Liberty will be free to play for all players.StarCraft II Going Free-To-Play, Explained Battle.net Accessed 2017-11-03. Campaign Campaign Overview The terran campaign focused on Raynor's Raiders, which had become a mercenary force based in the Hyperion. The campaign started at Mar Sara, site of the start of the original StarCraft.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Liberation Day (in English). 2010-07-27. Jim Raynor is "the central hero and character of the campaign," which focuses on his fight against the Terran Dominion as well as his relationship with Sarah Kerrigan. Raynor's forces were out of money and morale, but Raynor had been trying to reverse this by acquiring alien artifacts and selling them to the mysterious Moebius Foundation.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. General dialogue (in English). 2010. Mechanics The campaign is expected to take 20-60 hours to complete, depending on how "completist" the player is.Gunnar Petzall. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 page 2. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-06-29. In the terran campaign, players could choose their own missions in the middle of the campaign rather than progress through a set series. The missions are designed to emphasize player choice, such as which technology to buy and which missions to play. The choices will be made obvious, and affect the fate of some characters. Mission and cinematic replays can be viewed and data displayed. Missions can even be played again in order to get achievements. All missions except the final Char missions, the prophecy missions and the secret mission add a new unit to the arsenal. The mission is generally tailored to be challenging when using the new unit. Delaying a mission to expand the arsenal by playing other missions first can alleviate much of that difficulty. Character Interactions Jim Raynor is the main character, and the player will direct him, determining to some extent who Raynor will become based on their choices. This is different from the "vague" player character from StarCraft. The player will have the choice of bending Raynor's path in life (by taking missions from certain characters such as Ariel Hanson compared to taking missions from characters such as Tychus Findlay and Gabriel Tosh). Interactions in briefings also changed, as Jim Raynor can interact with those around him (e.g. he can walk around the Hyperion or talk to characters like Tychus Findlay and his second-in-command Matt Horner. The player can choose which characters to interact with. Often missions are associated with different characters. For instance, Jim Raynor can choose between allying with Gabriel Tosh or Nova. If the former mission is concluded, Raynor's Raiders can create spectres and Tosh remains on his team. If the latter mission is chosen, Raynor's Raiders can create s and Nova kills Tosh. Sets ]] Numerous between-mission set pieces exist, such as the bar on Mar Sara where Tychus Findlay was reunited with Jim Raynor, and includes features such as a jukebox (which enables music to be turned on or off), a bulletin board containing useful information (such as wanted posters) and nostalgic pieces (such as a picture of Raynor and Findlay in the Heaven's Devils), and a TV set which showed newscasts informing Raynor about events affecting the Terran Dominion. ''Hyperion'' Sets Armory The Hyperion s armory is the favored hangout of engineer Rory Swann. It also contains a simulator to test new units. In StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, players can buy new upgrades here. Players can "customize" their selections which suit their playstyles, for instance buying defensive upgrades for bunkers would suit a defensive playstyle. When a new upgrade is bought, a short video of the unit or ability is shown.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Armory (in English). 2010. Bridge The bridge of the Hyperion is where mission briefings take place. Matt Horner is usually stationed here. The Battle Report screen allows missions to be replayed. Alternate missions can be played and although doing so will not affect the plot of a particular run through of Wings of Liberty, the missions' achievements can be earned, and credit for doing them (for achievements that have you complete all 29 missions) are also earned. Battle Reports of each mission are generated with stats ranging from SCV count to the actual build order. Cantina The ship houses an on-board cantina, where Jim Raynor has been known to drink. The cantina features TV sets (to watch the news) and a jukebox stolen from a bar on Mar Sara. Newly-introduced characters often congregate here, news reports can be watched and decorations for completing a particular arc of the campaign (such as the UNN plaque Findlay took after Media Blitz, or the banner given to Raynor by the Haven colonists after Safe Haven) can be viewed above the door. The game Lost Viking can be played here. Lab The laboratory provides upgrades and additional units in campaign mode. There are two research trees: zerg and protoss. Progression up the zerg tree is through accumulating zerg research points in missions, with protoss research points being applied to the protoss tree. Collecting points and advancing up the trees are a type of quest. Points are applied to the tree cumulatively; points are not expended like credits. A tree level is unlocked for every five points accumulated. Each level has two upgrades/unit options, but only one may be chosen. An option must be chosen at each level for the tree to progress. Once a tree has reached 25 points there are no further upgrades or units. Points beyond the 25 may be sold to the Moebius Foundation for 10,000 credits each. Dr. Ariel Hanson and Egon Stetmann spend their time in the lab. Unit and Upgrade Availability Units will become available in the campaign through missions. The player can also gain access to upgrades for them which are purchased outside actual missions in the Hyperion armory. Players will be able to "customize" their selections which suit their playstyles, for instance buying defensive upgrades for bunkers would suit a defensive playstyle. In addition, other upgrades that will never be seen in multiplayer, such as area-of-effect increases or the ability to add both a tech lab and a reactor to a barracks will be included in the system. Most missions completed gives access to a unit or upgrade to a unit. Each unit has two upgrades. There are only enough credits to purchase approximately 80% of upgrades in the campaign.StarCraft Legacy staff. 2010-04-22. April 19 Single Player Campaign Info and Press Event. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2010-04-23. Raynor's Raiders will have access to some older technology, such as Wraiths, goliaths and medics. Protoss Mini-Campaign Wings of Liberty includes a protoss mini-campaign which must be unlocked. It consists of a series of missions, and includes other protoss forces. The mini-campaign is not separate from the main terran campaign; rather, there are missions where the player plays as protoss. The mini-campaign is presented as a flashback of Zeratul's actions.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Whispers of Doom (in English). 2010-07-27. Mission Types The mission types are varied; early missions are focused on acquiring credits and equipment, such as Liberation Day and The Outlaws. One mission consists of a series of train robberies (The Great Train Robbery). The third mission is a hold-out mission. Other missions include one where lava rises every five minutes, killing anything that isn't on high ground (The Devil's Playground); a mission where infested terrans emerge at night and force the player into a hold-out situation, but they become dormant during the day, during which the player tries to kill as many as possible (Outbreak); a mission where there is a invincible mothership and the player has to destroy the nexii powering its shield before it destroys all colonist outposts (Safe Haven); a mission where opposing terran and zerg forces seek to steal an alien artifact from within a hostile protoss fanatics base (Smash and Grab); a mission in which a lone "ghost" must influence a battle (Breakout & Ghost of a Chance); a mission on a xel'naga worldship where rip-field generators damages units (Maw of the Void), a mission on a scrap planet where the player has to compete with a mercenary to achieve a quota of 6000 minerals, scrap having to be collected (Cutthroat), the "Thor" missions (Engine of Destruction and Media Blitz) and one mission will have walls of fire burn across the map and the player must complete the mission before being consumed by a nearby supernova (Supernova). The mission design of the game was based on how Wings of Liberty was a story of "one man and a group of rebels," and were designed to show how Raynor was in over his head, yet could pull off miracles even in the midst of zerg invasions.2011-10-22, BlizzCon 2011 - Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm - Campaign and Lore Panel (Full). YouTube, accessed on 2011-11-07 Storyline Note: The storyline of Wings of Liberty contains branches, some of which are mutually exclusive. Information has been grouped by missions lines, but some overlap can still occur at the player's discretion. Mar Sara After nine years of being a convict, Tychus Findlay was released from cryo-prison, but not without a price.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Deal. (in English). 2010. Meanwhile, rebel leader Jim Raynor was present on Mar Sara, fighting against a Terran Dominion takeover of a local colony.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Liberation Day (in English). 2010-07-27. Traveling back to Joeyray's Bar, he met up with Tychus Findlay, who was an old friend of his. Findlay offered Raynor a business proposal; "liberating" alien artifacts from the Terran Dominion. The Dominion had recently prohibited transportation of such artifacts, and had begun excavating them on planets such as Mar Sara.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Old Times. (in English). 2010. The artifacts would be sold to his contact, the formerly legitimate Moebius Foundation. Raynor and Findlay's forces teamed up to steal one such artifact from the Dominion.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Outlaws (in English). 2010-07-27. The zerg invaded Mar Sara en masse, starting at the location of the dig. The Raiders defended a town until the Hyperion could rescue them.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Zero Hour (in English). 2010-07-27. The zerg had, in fact, struck many Dominion worlds.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Escape from Mar Sara. (in English). 2010. Afterward, Raynor had the choices of rescuing the colonists of Agria and retrieving an artifact from protoss fanatics at Monlyth.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. General dialogue (in English). 2010. Tal'darim Troubles On Monlyth, the Raiders had to contend with both the Tal'darim, a fanatical protoss splinter faction, and Kerrigan's zerg. They performed a quick smash and grab mission, wrestling the artifact and escaping before Kerrigan could arrive...but not before she could taunt Raynor.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Smash and Grab (in English). 2010-07-27. Afterwards, Findlay familiarized himself with the Queen of Blades via the Hyperion's archive, much to Matt Horner's irritation at the lack of permission granted for such access. Findlay saw Kerrigan as a threat to be dealt with. Horner however, was more sensitive and aware of Raynor's past with the former ghost.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Queen of Blades. (in English). 2010. The next artifact uncovered was on the dead world of Xil, where a Moebius Foundation team had been wiped out. The Raiders descended to the surface and discovered why—the Tal'darim. However, using the ''Drakken'' laser drill as both excavator and weapon, the Raiders succeeded where Moebius had failed and retrieved the artifact.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Dig (in English). 2010-07-27. Whispers in the Dark After Xil, Raynor was confronted by another protoss, one who didn't want to kill him—Zeratul. He gave Raynor a cryptic warning about Kerrigan, that for all her sins, she was the only one who could save them from a looming catastrophe. The rebel received an ihan crystal from the Nerazim, one that contained Zeratul's memories. Memories that would allow the terran to understand what his protoss friend had seen and experienced.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Zeratul's Warning. (in English). 2010. Raynor stared into the crystal, seeing Zeratul arrive on the world of Ulaan, seeking a prophecy that heralded the return of the xel'naga. However, Kerrigan was present as well, along with her zerg. The two fought and Kerrigan held her own, but her heart wasn't in it. Like Zeratul, she had seen portents of what the future would bring. And unlike the Dark Templar, she was willing to let fate take her.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Prophecy. (in English). 2010. Zeratul however, clung onto hope and retrieved the prophecy's fragments. He traveled to Zhakul, where the fragments might be translated.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Whispers of Doom (in English). 2010-07-27. Raynor was losing himself in the crystal, prompting the concern of those around him.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Matt Horner (in English). 2010. Nonetheless, he watched as Zeratul arrived on Zhakul, finding the three preservers he sought imprisoned by a hybrid and the local protoss corrupted by its influence. The prelate defeated the creature and freed the preservers, who in turn interpreted the prophecy. It spoke of a "Fallen One" and that what had begun with the Great Hungerer would end in utter darkness. Zeratul realized that the "Great Hungerer" might be the Overmind and departed for Aiur.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, A Sinister Turn (in English). 2010-07-27. Aiur was a ruined world, and the area around the corpse of the Overmind was no exception. Zeratul accessed its thoughts from its tendrils, sensing, strangely enough, fear of the future, yet also joy. Arriving at its cortex, the Nerazim was confronted by the spirit of Tassadar, thought dead four years ago. Tassadar had never truly died, and in the high templar's own words, never would. He explained that the Overmind was not always the monstrous creature the protoss had fought in the Great War. Instead, its personality had been altered by an outside force, the Dark Voice, compelling it to assault the protoss rather than merge naturally to perform the xel'naga's cycle of rebirth. The Overmind knew it had been corrupted, but had been created without free will and could therefore not fight its overriding directive. It could, however, create a being who might save its species from manipulation...the Queen of Blades. For it had seen what the future held. And through Tassadar, Zeratul saw it as well.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Echoes of the Future (in English). 2010-07-27. In the present, Raynor took the final step and saw what others before him had—Armageddon. Humanity had been consumed, the galaxy was in flames, the protoss were making a final stand on a distant, shadowed world and the Swarm had come under the control of the hybrids, as well as their mysterious leader. The Dark Voice mocked the protoss, revealing that in this future, Kerrigan, the one person who might have saved them, was dead, killed in the perception that she had been the true threat. The protoss were eventually overcome and darkness descended over the galaxy. And Kerrigan, the same being responsible for bringing death and destruction to the Koprulu Sector, was the only one who could avert this.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, In Utter Darkness (in English). 2010-07-27. The Final Artifacts Sarah Kerrigan made another play for the artifacts. She personally led an invasion of Tyrador VIII, where the Moebius Foundation was based. Their own forces had managed to evacuate for the most part, but were unable to destroy their data cores which would reveal the locations of the rest of the artifacts. Raynor's Raiders were hired by the Foundation's leader, Dr. Emil Narud, to destroy the data cores before Kerrigan could get to them. The Raiders were successful in this action.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Moebius Factor (in English). 2010-07-27. However, this close call with Kerrigan caused Raynor to fall into a depression.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: ...Who We Choose To Be. (in English). 2010. The next artifact was located on Typhon XI. As the Hyperion neared the planet, the star it orbited began to fall into a supernova. Raynor's Raiders had to quickly descend, fight their way past Tal'darim and make off with the artifact before the planet was consumed. The Raiders once again stole an artifact from the Tal'darim.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Supernova (in English). 2010-07-27. The Raiders, expecting to meet with the Moebius Foundation, instead came across a Dominion fleet, led by its flagship, the Bucephalus. Raynor and Findlay invaded the Bucephalus, intending to kill Arcturus Mengsk. Instead, Raynor found his son, Valerian, who offered to work with him in order to rescue Sarah Kerrigan from her infestation. Raynor agreed.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Heir Apparent. (in English). 2010. Raynor's Raiders located the last piece of the artifact on a xel'naga worldship occupied by the Tal'darim. The Tal'darim Executor made a personal appearance in his own mothership but it was useless; the Raiders made off with the last piece.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Maw of the Void (in English). 2010-07-27. The Return to Char Raynor allied with Valerian Mengsk to go down to Char to try to de-infest Kerrigan. Many members of his crew became distrustful of Raynor, especially Milo Kachinsky and Tychus Findlay, who drunkenly branded Raynor as a coward. Raynor overheard this, and after besting an armored Findlay during a fight, Raynor explained that the zerg invasion was the greater of two evils and doing so would save humanity, turning the crew back to his side.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Maw of the Void (in English). 2010-07-27. After an unpleasant meeting with General Horace Warfield, Raynor was briefed on the battlecruiser Bucephalus, the flagship of the Dominion fleet. Valerian received a transmission from his father, who was proud of his son's ambition, which was to prove himself a worthy heir by de-infesting Kerrigan and allying with the biggest terrorist ever, but believed he was in "way over your head." Arcturus was then shocked that Raynor allied with his son, which Raynor assured Arcturus that they had a "score to settle." After the transmission, Valerian was pleased. The zerg then launched a pre-emptive strike.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Gates of Hell (in English). 2010-07-27. The initial landing was a disaster. Many attack groups were destroyed while in-flight and those that landed were either wiped out by zerg forces on the planet or were scattered. Raynor and his forces were able to take a foothold on Char, soon afterward proceeding to rescue General Warfield and his men, who had crash landed in the initial assault. Warfield commended Raynor on his bravery.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Gates of Hell (in English). 2010-07-27. The zerg's ground or air support then had to be taken out. The terran forces could assault the main hive because of the massive number of zerg around it. More zerg were also incoming from previously invaded Terran Dominion worlds. Therefore, the zerg's nydus network had to be taken out or their air support.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Belly of the Beast (in English). 2010-07-27.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Shatter the Sky (in English). 2010-07-27. After the zerg's support was taken out, the terran forces rallied to launch the final attack on the primary hive, after an inspiring speech by Raynor. General Warfield, with a new cybernetic arm, delivered the fully assembled xel'naga artifact to Raynor, where the terran forces had to hold out against the zerg until the artifact was fully charged to de-infest Kerrigan. The artifact became fully charged and launched a powerful energy nova that destroyed the zerg forces and partially de-infested Kerrigan.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, All In (in English). 2010-07-27. Raynor and Findlay then led a small team of marines into the main hive to retreive Kerrigan. Tychus then tried to fulfill his deal with Mengsk by killing Kerrigan and earning his freedom. Raynor defended Kerrigan from Tychus and then shot him. Raynor then walked outside to a sunrise, carrying Sarah Kerrigan over a war-torn Char.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Showdown. (in English). 2010. Valerian Mengsk's gambit paid off; Kerrigan has been de-infested. While the zerg invasion was halted, Tychus Findlay is dead, and Arcturus Mengsk remains secure on his throne.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Wings of Liberty Epilogue. (in English). 2010. Branching Paths Hanson's Saga The Raiders aided the world of Agria, which had been abandoned by the Dominion.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Evacuation (in English). 2010-07-27. After the evacuation, Dr. Ariel Hanson joined the Raiders.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Ariel Hanson (in English). 2010. Spectres Gabriel Tosh, a former Dominion ghost turned anti-Dominion spectre, hoped to use the fighting to mask the acquisition of jorium, terrazine, and suitable candidates needed to augment Project Shadow Blade. He sought the help of Jim Raynor, hoping to use their alliance against Arcturus Mengsk.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Breakout (in English). 2010-07-27. The Revolution Although the Raiders had a low amount of funds as well as morale, these factors did not stop Matt Horner from working toward a better future.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Great Train Robbery (in English). 2010-07-27. List of Missions Characters :Main article: Characters in StarCraft II Collector's Edition Wings of Liberty has a Collector's Edition, selling for $100 US dollars and is only available through retail stores. Bonus items include: *''The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'' *A USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which includes StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War *A behind the scenes DVD. *The official Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, with 14 game tracks and exclusive bonus tracks. *''StarCraft: Issue 0, a prequel to the ''StarCraft comic *A World of Warcraft mini-thorMini Thor at Wowpedia pet. *A different thor model for in-game use. *Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game.Business Wire staff. 2010-04-08. StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Collector's Edition Announced. Business Wire. Accessed 2010-04-08. Demo Version On December 21, 2010, a demo version of Wings of Liberty became available. The player could play through the first three missions, or play multiplayer (but only as terrans against a terran AI opponent).Blizzard Entertainment. 2010-12-21. StarCraft II Demo Now Available. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-12-21. Unlike the original StarCraft demo, it doesn't have access to play through Battle.net. In the demo version there are only two Mar Sara maps available (Blistering Sands and Quicksand). All unit portraits are still (cannot be animated); the only exceptions are Jim Raynor (both marine and commander), Raynor's adjutant and Tychus Findlay. As of August 2011 the "Starter Edition" became available. This gives access to the first three missions of Wings of Liberty plus either The Evacuation or Smash and Grab (player's choice), the first two challenges: Tactical Command and , access to terrans in Single-Player vs AI and Custom Games in the following maps: Discord IV, High Orbit, The Shattered Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns and the custom map StarJeweled, subject to change over time. Achievements and campaign progress will be saved in case the player upgrades to the full version of Wings of Liberty.Blizzard Entertainment. 2011-08-03. StarCraft II: Starter Edition. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2011-08-03. Reception Sales Within one day of its release, Wings of Liberty had sold 1 million copies worldwide. After two days (during which period Blizzard began selling the game as a digital download on its website) it sold approximately 500,000 additional units, bringing the total up to 1.5 million worldwide and making it the fastest-selling strategy game of all time.2010-08-03, StarCraft® II: Biggest PC Game Launch of 2010!. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2010-12-15 After one month, it had sold 3 million copies worldwide.2010-09-01, StarCraft II sells 3 million in a month. Eurogamer, accessed on 2010-12-15 Scores *GameRankings: 92.67% (aggregate)Gamerankings, accessed on 2010-12-15 *Metacritic: 93% (aggregate)Metascore, Metacritic. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *''Computer and Video Games: 9.3/102010-07-30, StarCraft 2 Review. Computer and Video Games], accessed on 2010-12-15 *Eurogamer: 9/102010-08-03, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Eurogamer, accessed on 2010-12-15 *''Game Informer'' 10/102010-08-03, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Gameinformer, accessed on 2010-12-15 *GameSpot: 9.5/10StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Gamespot. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *GameSpy: 4/52010-08-04, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, GameSpy. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *GamesRadar: 10/10StarCraft II, GamesRadar. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *GameTrailers: 9.5/10StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, GameTrailers. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *IGN: 9/102010-08-03, StarCraft II Wings of Liberty Review. IGN, accessed on 2010-12-15 *Videogamer.com: 10/102010-07-30, StarCraft 2 Review. Videogamer.com, accessed on 2010-12-15 *X-Play: 5/52010-07-29, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Review - PC. G4, accessed on 2010-12-15 Awards *Spike 2010 Best PC GameBest PC Game. Spike. Accessed 2010-12-14. *G4 Best Game of 20102010-12-14, Videogame Deathmatch. G4, accessed on 2010-12-15 *IGN Best PC Competitive Multiplayer (2010)Best Competitive Multiplayer, IGN. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *IGN Best PC Strategy Game (2010)Best Strategy Game, IGN. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *IGN Best PC Blockbuster Game (2010)Best Blockbuster Game, IGN. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *IGN Best PC Game of the Year (2010)PC Game of the Year, IGN. Accessed on 2010-12-15 *Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play and Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year, as well as being nominated for several other awards, by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.2011 Interactive Achievement Awards. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Accessed 2011-02-12. *Time Magazine Game of the Year (2010)Michelle Castillo. 2010-12-09. The Top 10 Everything of 2010. Time Magazine. Accessed 2011-02-16. *Paul Menichini, David Farmer of Blizzard Entertainment won the GANG 2011 award for Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.''2011-03-05. 9th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Award Winners Announced at Annual GDC Celebration. ''Audio Gang. Accessed 2011-03-07. Nominations At IGN in 2010, the game was also nominated for Best PC SoundtrackBest Soundtrack, IGN. Accessed on 2010-12-14 and Best PC Bang for Your BuckBest Bang for Your Buck, IGN. Accessed on 2010-12-15 The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be nominated for the Strategy Category and the Multiplayer Category. The event is held March 2011.Medievaldragon. 2011-02-13. StarCraft II Nominated for BAFTA 2011 Video Games Awards. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2011-02-16. MI6, a game marketing organization, nominated Wings of Liberty for the following 2011 awards: *Best Product Packaging: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Standard Edition *Best Limited Edition, Special Edition or Collectors Edition Packaging: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector’s Edition *Best Online Advertising Campaign: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Online Campaign *Best Community-Based Web Experience: StarCraft II ‘Join the Dominion’ Campaign *Sharpest Edge Award - Best Editing: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty TV CommercialMedievaldragon. 2011-03-02. 2011 MI6 Awards Finalists Announced: World of Warcraft and StarCraft II Dominate. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2011-03-04. Development As per each installment of StarCraft II, Wings of Liberty was to focus on the fantasy of its playable race. In this case, the terrans—building a stronger army through completing missions and earning credits.2014-11-07, StarCraft II Legacy of the Void Campaign Overview. YouTube, accessed on 2014-11-12 Most of the missions were designed to reflect that Raynor could not take on Mengsk directly, and as such, had to choose his battles tactically.2015-06-26, Blizzard's Secrets of Storytelling in StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void. GameSpot, accessed on 2015-06-28 Andy Chambers finished completion of the game's story, after most of the groundwork had been laid in. A storyline that was cut from the game was a drinking problem for Raynor. Raynor would be shown to make mistakes even as the player successfully completed missions. Raynor would overcome his personal demons and find redemption. Such was Chris Metzen's idea, but the development team reacted negatively, finding it unnecessary, citing issues of player empowerment. According to Metzen, the original concept was to portray Raynor as a full-blown alcoholic. However, this was dialed back, as he didn't want to portray Raynor as being a man completely without hope.2011-10-20, The Hero Factory • Page 1. Eurogamer, accessed on 2011-11-19 The United Earth Directorate was originally going to play a significant role in StarCraft II. However, this plot point was scaled back. In the context of Wings of Liberty itself, it was deemed that the conflict between the Dominion and Raynor's Raiders was sufficient without having to bring in the UED.IGN. 2016-03-30. Celebrating 20 Years of Starcraft: An Interview with Starcraft's Creators IGN.com. Accessed 2016-03-30. The Wings of Liberty beta launched on February 17, 2010.Avarius. 2010-02-17. StarCraft II Beta Is Now Live! Battle.net StarCraft II Beta Forum. Accessed 2010-02-17. The final release had been pushed back to at least the first half of 2010 to give adequate time to develop Battle.net.Cydra. 2009-08-05. StarCraft II Update. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-08-05. Development of the game itself is currently focused on polishing the singleplayer, specifically briefings, newscasts, outros and videos for unlocked technologies.2010-02-17, Medievaldragon, interviews Starcraft II Team celebrating closed beta launch (Rob Pardo & Chris Sigaty). Blizzplanet, accessed on 2010-02-18 As of March 2010, all missions were in, dialog was in, and all game mechanics were working.Dustin Browder, Patrick Garratt. 2010-03-09. Interview: StarCraft II’s Dustin Browder on the beta, GDC, and finally going home. VG247. Accessed 2010-03-09. Its storyline had been fully solidified, and the team who developed it moved on to Heart of the Swarm.2010-04-30, GiantBomb: Chris Metzen Talks StarCraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2010-05-06 StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was released on July 27, 2010. It had a day one patch. Notes *Such is the scale of Wings of Liberty's storyline that Chris Metzen believes that it would take at least three novels to tell it were it in written form, though nine would be the preferred number. He considers the ending of the game to be one of his favorite moments out of all the work he's done at Blizzard Entertainment.2009-08-20, Starcraft II Story & Characters Interview. YouTube, accessed on 2009-09-08 **In preparation for the release of Legacy of the Void, Metzen replayed Wings of Liberty. He described his reaction as "a mix of pride and a healthy dose of writer's self-loathing."2015-11-06, STARCRAFT: THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. Polygon, accessed on 2015-11-18 *In China, StarCraft II's open beta started on March 29, 2011Medievaldragon. 2011-03-29. StarCraft II Open Beta Testing Begins in Mainland China. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2011-03-29. for free. Chinese StarCraft II players pay 20 yuan (approximately $3) per month.Medievaldragon. 2011-03-18. NetEase Announces StarCraft II Open Beta in China Starts March.29.2011. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2011-03-19. *In conjunction with Blizzard Entertainment, SteelSeries has developed a custom Wings of Liberty keyboard, specifically designed for macromanagement and with labeled commands on the keys.SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition Keyset StarCraft II. SteelSeries, accessed on 2010-01-13 *The game contains a method for learning how to play the other races.Chris Sigaty, Samwise Didier. Blizzcon 2008 StarCraft 2 Press Q&A. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2008010-12. References Category:Games Category:Storyline Category:Terrans Category:StarCraft II campaigns